Canopy-mounted lighting fixtures (luminaires) are often used to provide lighting in areas such as service stations, drive-through facilities such as banks, and other outdoor lighting environments which are generally lighted from above. The canopy-mounted luminaires often have a housing formed in box-like fashion with several elements of the fixture such as a lamp, a lens for directing the light and any other structure configured to hold or seal the lamp mounted on a flat plate (face plate) which is then fastened in place on the lower portion of the housing. Other components such as a transformer or ballast (if needed), wiring connectors, may be mounted on the underside of the plate to place them protected from the weather and out of sight inside the housing.
Various canopy-mounted lighting fixtures have been developed. Examples of such prior art fixtures are those disclosed in the following United States patents: U.S. Pat. No. 6,561,670 (Jongewaard, et al), U.S. Pat. No. 6,116,749 (Quiogue, et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 5,997,158 (Fischer, et al.) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,662,407 (Fischer, et al.).
Canopy-mounted lighting fixtures in the prior art have certain shortcomings and disadvantages to which this invention is addressed. In particular, the box-like housings are often installed in a manner such that it is economically advantageous or otherwise desirable to replace the functioning elements of the luminaire while retaining the fixture housing in place within a canopy structure. Thus, there is a need for a low-cost retrofit luminaire which is also simple to install and repair.